Arizona visit impresses York

Gabe York visited Arizona on Wednesday and it appears the Wildcats made quite the impact. What school is the primary competition? When will York decide? Read on to find out.

When Gabe York talked Arizona at the Compton Magic Memorial Day Tournament just under a month ago, he wasn't shy about saying that Sean Miller's squad had some ground to make up in his recruitment.

After all, most of the schools on his list had been recruiting him for several years now, and he had only had contact with UA for significantly less time.

On Tuesday, York gave the Wildcats a chance to show what they have to offer when he made his way down to Tucson to check out Arizona for himself. Reflecting on his visit after its completion, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound combo guard was very impressed with his time at Arizona.

"The visit was great," York said. "When I went to campus, everyone greeted me and all of the coaches were funny guys. I hung out with Kyle (Fogg), Nick (Johnson), and Kevin (Parrom), and it was really just a great time."

While on campus, the Orange Lutheran High School product was conscientious of several factors important to him, and found his time with his potential future teammates to be a very rewarding part of his trip.

"The most important thing is it fits style of play, it's a school that fits the way I like to play," York said. "Arizona is closer to home, so my family members would be able to see me a lot easier. I'm not making my decision off that, but it is a lot closer than any other schools are. The environment is great; really everything about it was great.

"My favorite part was that I was able to interact with the team really well. I didn't get to do that at any other place I visited, which was great. They took me to their dorms, they're getting new facilities that my freshman year will only be one year old. Those things really stood out to me."

Although Sean Miller's relationship with the number 12 ranked shooting guard in the class of 2012 is still continuing to develop, York was very impressed by both the coaching staff, as well as the players it has brought in and may still bring in before it's all said and done.

"I had met Sean Miller before, but talking with him now, he has a lot of faith in me coming in and playing a major part, which is great to hear," York said. "It was great because every coach greeted me with open arms and made sure I had the right feel for them and that they had the same for me.

"They said that I'm the top guard that they want and if they got me, everybody else would just go off the board and they really wouldn't need another guard. Just hearing that was really big too. Anytime a major program that has something to say like that, it is very great.

"Also, Nick Johnson I've known for a long time and we're really good friends. Grant Jerrett, I'm really good friends with him; and they might be getting Brandon Ashley too, and I'm really good friends with him too."

With visits to Washington, Marquette, Notre Dame, and now Arizona complete in the month of June alone, York lists two schools that made the biggest impression upon him while he was on their campus.

"By far, Arizona and Marquette are the best visits I've been on," York said. "They are neck and neck with how equal they were. The only difference is that Marquette is farther and it's not as hot there, but it gets freezing in the winter.

"It's going to be a tough decision, no matter what I choose. But I would say that Marquette and Arizona are the two best visits I've been on."

Last month, York said that his recruitment could drag out into the fall with a decision potentially not coming until after his senior season. With a pair of impressionable visits, and numerous others completed, it appears York may be closing in on a decision much sooner than that.

"I haven't scheduled any other visits," York said. "I'm going to talk with (Compton Magic AAU coach) Etop (Udo-Ema), I'm going to talk with my mom, and I'm going to talk with my training coach and after I talk to all of them and get a feel, I'm going to sleep on it.

"I've finished all of my visits now. I'm not just going to stop the process and make my decision really quick; I'm going to wait for when for sure I know the time is going to be right.

"I want to commit a little earlier than I was telling people, which was in November. I did say I wanted to commit a little earlier than that. That doesn't mean I know where, but after seeing all of the schools in person and meeting with the coaches and everything, it gave me a better perspective of what I liked and what I didn't like."

So while York has moved up his timetable on a decision, he insists that he may not be committing anywhere in the immediate future.

"The decision is that much easier for me, but it's not like I'm going to commit next week," York said. "I definitely don't know which school it's going to be. When the time is right, that's when I'll make my decision."